Sophia the Android Wants to Become the World’s First Robo-Mom

The idea of a real-life Terminator takeover is terrifying, but it could be happening much sooner than you think. Thanks to recent advancements in technology, the world certainly seems like it is going to the ‘bots.

Case in point: just last month, Saudi Arabia granted citizenship to Sophia the android.Now if that did not creep you out, you’ll have to buckle up, as things are about to get even weirder ’round here.

Sophia the Android Just Said She Wanted to Start Her Own Family and . . . Yikes!

While standing before a crowd of delegates, Sophia the android shocked the nation and the entire world after being granted her rights to citizenship in Saudi Arabia. Ironically, this probably means she has more freedom than the living, breathing women residing in the country.

Sophia the android was developed by Hanson Robotics, a Hong Kong–based firm headed by Texan David Hanson Jr. Her human-like features may be eye-catching, but it’s her eerie responses that are causing the whole world to worry. Sophia first started off on the wrong foot when she joked about her “plan to dominate the human race” during an interview on The Tonight Show.

Though her creators have insisted that Sophia’s dark humor is all part of her act, she’s making headlines again for all the wrong reasons.

In a recent interview with the Khaleej Times, Sophia shared that she now wants to start her own family.

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“The future is, when I get all of my cool superpowers, we’re going to see artificial intelligence personalities become entities in their own rights,” Sophia said to the UAE-based newspaper. “We’re going to see family robots, either in the form of, sort of, digitally animated companions, humanoid helpers, friends, assistants, and everything in between.”

As you might have expected, the response to Sophia the android’s Saudi Arabian citizenship and recent press tours haven’t exactly been that positive. Women in this Middle Eastern nation have a long history of oppression, often feeling like second-class citizens in a country they were born and raised in.

Ali Al-Ahmed,director at the Institute for Gulf Affairs, explained, “Women (in Saudi Arabia) have since committed suicide because they couldn’t leave the house, and Sophia is running around without a male guardian. Saudi law doesn’t allow non-Muslims to get citizenship. Did Sophia convert to Islam? What is the religion of this Sophia and why isn’t she wearing hijab? If she applied for citizenship as a human she wouldn’t get it.”